The Castle of the Valkyries is the largest Joana Vasconcelos exhibition in Germany | Art

The Gottorf Castle Museum of Art and Cultural History presents, until November 3rd, Le Château des Valkyries (The Castle of the Valkyries)the largest solo exhibition by Joana Vasconcelos to date in Germany, half a year after the Portuguese artist opened her biggest exhibition in Brazil, in November last year, at the Oscar Niemeyer Museum, in Curitiba.

Opened this Wednesday, Le Château des Valkyries spread across ten large-scale installations. Among them is Valkyries, a series of sculptures made of fabrics, lace, embroidery, wool, sequins, beads, feathers and LEDs and dedicated to women​ such as the feminist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, the fashion designer Marina Rinaldi or Elizabeth ‘Mumbet’ Freeman, a pioneering figure in abolitionist movement, having been one of the first enslaved African-Americans to open and win a case for freedom. These pieces occupy Museum Island, in Schleswig. Another of the highlighted works is Ostfrieslanda wrought iron teapot measuring 2.30 meters high and more than three meters wide, displayed at the Eisenkunstguss Museum Büdelsdorf.

The exhibition, writes the museum in a statement, “showcases the diverse facets of Vasconcelos’ artistic work”, whose work is “informed by an appreciation of traditional Portuguese crafts and artisanal techniques, which she places in new contexts, reinterprets and presents to the world.” .

The museum remembers, in its site official, the biography of Joana Vasconcelos, born in Paris in 1971, highlighting that her works mix art, fashion and design “with ease and in a unique and attractive way.”

“Exhibitions at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Palace of Versailles, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and, last but not least, her spectacular contributions to the 2005 and 2013 Venice Biennales have made her a globally sought-after artist, whose works Sensual and theatrical attractions fascinate and enchant the public”, describes the Museum of Art and Cultural History at Gottorf Castle.

Speaking to the Lusa agency, a museum source highlighted the “enormous satisfaction” of being able to show “Joana Vasconcelos’s largest exhibition to date in a German museum”. Le Château des Valkyries it was curated and organized by a team led by Thorsten Sadowsky, director of the institution, and it took around two years to plan it.

Parallel to the exhibition, several activities are planned. In addition to the usual guided tours, there will be concerts, readings, movie nights, yoga sessions in the museum or a knitting and mending meeting. In the exhibition’s practical studio, visitors will be able to discover Joana Vasconcelos’ work in another way: touch original pieces at a “touch station”, design their own Valkyrie as part of a competition or crochet.

The exhibition in Germany coincides with a new exhibition by the Portuguese artist in Spain, to open at the Central Artística de Bueño, in Asturias, on the 7th, where she will present Diagonalsfrom the series Tetrisand the recent work La Pasionaria.

This last piece is a tribute to the Spanish anti-fascist fighter Dolores Ibárruri (1895-1989), also known as “La Pasionaria”, who made It won’t happen! a slogan against Falangist troops during the Civil War (1936-39), making it a maxim of anti-fascism still used today. Elected to the Spanish parliament in 1977, following the democratic transition that followed the death of dictator Francisco Franco, “La Pasionaria” was honorary president of the Spanish Communist Party until her death in 1989.